Air cooling vs Water cooling

[Nik Balor]

Every time i ask for a part list someone add liquid cooling in it, let me start with refreshing everyone's minds !

 

Water conducts electricity, water is a liquid, liquid coolers use liquid, and liquid + electronics = fried electronics !

Now as ''safe'' as people claim liquid coolers are, all liquid coolers have a risk that is if in the event a liquid cooler leaks, then the liquid from the cooler will pretty much fry any PC parts it comes in contact with, when the risk occurs people have to spend money replacing whatever part/s got fried /

 

people like to say liquid cooling leaks are rare ! but i wanna know how rare 1 in 2, 2 in 4, 10% in 20% ?

and if there so rare why am i the only one who is fully aware of the risks ?!

 

fan cooling on the other hand has no risks ( as far as i know ) !

[RKRiley]

Well if you buy from a reputable brand, Corsair for example, they cover the cost of replacing any components that are damaged through a leak/defect in their water coolers. Though that's on a case-by-case basis.

 

By "rare" i'd say it's less than a 1 in 100 chance of a closed loop AIO leaking. You're not the "only one who is fully aware" it's just that the risk is so small, most people won't even consider it as an actual risk, and as mentioned above with Corsair, they'd likely be covered anyway.

 

 

Fan/Air cooling also has its risks, some coolers can be pretty big and pretty heavy, in some cases causing bend and flex to the motherboards they're fitted on.

[ImNotThere]

14 minutes ago, Nik Balor said:

 

people like to say liquid cooling leaks are rare ! but i wanna know how rare 1 in 2, 2 in 4, 10% in 20% ?

not sure if this is what you meant but 10% in 20% is the same as 50% in 100%

i can guarentee without quoting numbers that the failure rate is NOT 50% otherwise no one would risk it

 

let people cool however they want its the same kind of thing with overclocking, its a known risk and people take it

[Mooshi]

A giant heatsink can put stress on a board to where you're risking damaging the motherboard socket so....neither really has a safety advantage if you're after top cooling performance.

[Leonard]

@Nik Balor for bot AIOs and custom kits, leaks are common in WCing but it is mostly user install error, i.e, you may try to install the radiator with different mounting screws than what come with the cooler, because i like the color, and then dig into the radiator channels causing a leak.   There is also the issue of failing parts and maintenance like changing the coolant in custom kits, if you do not want any of that then get a good air cooler even if someone recommends a WC.

 

Personally i prefer WC because for me the benefits out way the risks.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

An internal combustion engine for your car is basically powered by explosions, and the reason we still drive them is because of the trust we have that the manufacturer made them to the standards set for safety. You have to give AIO/watercooling parts manufacturers the same amount of trust because they would not be making money if they know that they're parts are defective.

 

If you are still skeptical about them, then next time you ask for a parts list, explicitly state for air cooling.

[Nik Balor]

49 minutes ago, Leonard said:

@Nik Balorif you do not want any of that then get a good air cooler even if someone recommends a WC.

 

 

52 minutes ago, Mooshi said:

A giant heatsink can put stress on a board to where you're risking damaging the motherboard socket so....neither really has a safety advantage if you're after top cooling performance.

RKRiley 

 

what do you recommend ?! i was thinking the Cryorig R1 ultimate . but it's kinda heavy and as you said this might put some stress on the motherboard  i don't know ! any suggestions ?!

[Dissitesuxba11s]

5 minutes ago, Nik Balor said:

 

what do you recommend ?! i was thinking the Cryorig R1 ultimate . but it's kinda heavy and as you said this might put some stress on the motherboard  i don't know ! any suggestions ?!

The Cryorig H7 is a great, cheaper option.

[Nik Balor]

5 minutes ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

The Cryorig H7 is a great, cheaper option.

it looks great, and much lighter than the R1 ultimate ! the R1 ultimate is the better option for less CPU Temperature but it's so heavy it would put some stress on the MB right ?! i'll mainly use it for ryzen 7 1700x or i7 8700k ( Default clock speed ) haven't decided yet which one im gonna get 

[paddy-stone]

Yes, water cooling is a risk, but it's a damn rare occurence I think. Most failures I have heard about have been pump failures that are very rarely fatal, if at all, as the CPU has built in safeguards and turns the PC off to save damaging itself. I'm not an expert with water cooling, but have rarely heard about AIO coolers springing a leak.. and some that I have heard of seemed to me to be user error mostly with trying to bend the pipes too much and that creating the problem IMO. I used to be wary of water cooling too, but years later here I am and because I haven't heard of any major problems with leaks, I decided to go with it as the performance/temp gains are worth it, especially if you are overclocking IMO.

Currently running a 1700 on my main rig, under stress it used to get up to around 75-84 and sometimes higher, I had to reduce my overclock when using the included wraith spire cooler. Now under stress it gets to approx 51C under stress using cinebench R15/encoding with handbrake. This is running it Oc'd to 3.75Ghz all cores @1.225V. The cooler is a cooler master masterliquid 240 lite and is very cheap at approx £42, no horrible pump noise/whine at all, it's actually about the same sound level as the wraith spire with only the sound of air moving through the fans.

[Dissitesuxba11s]

15 minutes ago, Nik Balor said:

it looks great, and much lighter than the R1 ultimate ! the R1 ultimate is the better option for less CPU Temperature but it's so heavy it would put some stress on the MB right ?! i'll mainly use it for ryzen 7 1700x or i7 8700k ( Default clock speed ) haven't decided yet which one im gonna get 

For heavier coolers, the stress will be present but it would not cause significant damage to the motherboard. What will cause damage is if you decide to constantly move it around. The cooler will act like a lever arm and oscillate applying more damaging stress to the motherboard. 

Edited December 14, 2017 by Dissitesuxba11s
Forgot a crucial word.

[Nik Balor]

8 minutes ago, paddy-stone said:

The cooler is a cooler master masterliquid 240 lite and is very cheap at approx £42

how long have you been using it ? and how long do you think it needs a change ?!

[paddy-stone]

37 minutes ago, Nik Balor said:

how long have you been using it ? and how long do you think it needs a change ?!

Only been using it a week approx, doesn't affect my statement though. IIRC they have a 2 year warranty, but I would think that it COULD last 4 or 5 years before the pump failed maybe. With some coolers the pumps are trash and you can tell immediately that they may have major problems in the future because it's already making bad noise and clicking sounds... they could last just as long, but I'd be wary of them, and couldn't put up with the noise as I am sitting right next to my main pc. If this lasts for even 2 years it's not bad, as there may be a better model out in 2 years time and I don't mind spending £21 a year on a cooler really, I'll see how it is over time of course, but so far it's been plain sailing and not giving ANY indication that it might be a problem in the future. The TIM will need replacing maybe, as I only used the included paste this time as my IC diamond had finally run out. Seems OK though.

I have a Noctua D-15 massive heatsink, it is a very good cooler, but at double the price of a 240mm AIO water cooler AND it being big and bulky does cause some issues when building the pc and/or swapping parts, you might have to remove the heatsink for example when swapping RAM, and some connections on the mobo are also obscured and makes it difficult or even impossible to plug-in/remove connections such as CPU power, fans, M.2 (on some boards), and even the GPU in some cases. Plus the 240mm AIO cools better IMO than the Noctua.

[Leonard]

4 hours ago, Nik Balor said:

 

RKRiley 

 

what do you recommend ?! i was thinking the Cryorig R1 ultimate . but it's kinda heavy and as you said this might put some stress on the motherboard  i don't know ! any suggestions ?!

it all depends on the case and what CPU SKU that you plan to cool, if it is a K-SKU CPU meaning one that is unlocked and cna be OCed heavily and the case has room like a mid-full atx case then you would want something like a Noctua d15 or a Cryorig R1 Universal but if the CPU is a locked CPU and depending on the clearance in the case you will want something like a Hyper212/Cryorig H5/H7/Noctua NH-L12S (for low profile space)

[LoGiCalDrm]

The risk is imo smallest thing to consider when comparing AIO and air cooler. Price, performance, noise, looks, space restrictions and such should do determination mostly. And if not, then you could add risk to thought process.

[Mooshi]

5 hours ago, Nik Balor said:

 

RKRiley 

 

what do you recommend ?! i was thinking the Cryorig R1 ultimate . but it's kinda heavy and as you said this might put some stress on the motherboard  i don't know ! any suggestions ?!

Yeeeaah, I'd also recommend the Cryorig H7. It's what I used on my Ryzen build before I got the AIO since I already had the cooler laying around.

 

Tbh the only reason I have an AIO instead of the H7 still is because I live in Arizona and this room has bad circulation.

[Mick Naughty]

Chances are one in a 1000 for an actual issue. Even when that issues happens it will be user error for not doing something properly. 

 

Also h20 doesn't conduct electricity. which is why my builds always use fresh distilled water when being built and tested.

 

If you are  scared and don't try things, it isn't for you.